Peterborough Pirates Earn Historic Win at Youth Club Championships

Linde-Elmhurst, Young, Mastroianni & Jones Youth Cup Champs

– Growing number of youth clubs make inaugural event a success –

September 12, 2016 – Triathlon Ontario, the recognized Provincial Governing Body of Multisport in Ontario, announced the winners of the inaugural Youth Club Championships and 2016 Youth Cup Series held at the Recharge with Milk MultiSport Canada Lakeside KOS event on this past Saturday.

Both 12-13 and 14-15 year old divisions raced in the final Youth Cup stop as well as to earn points towards their club’s efforts to win the first ever Championship.

Growing Youth and Junior Participation
In 2013 Triathlon Ontario began increasing its efforts and investment youth and junior development. It believed and continues to strongly believe that a healthy youth and junior infrastructure is essential for long term growth and sustainability of the sport. It developed a Provincial Development Program, with one cornerstone of the Program being the establishment of a competitive race series for youth, junior and U23 athletes within the province.

In 2013 the Youth Cup Series was created with a four race non-drafting 14-15 year old Division. In 2014, draft legal races were added and participation grew by 50%. As well, a 12-13 year old Division was added. By 2015 the 14-15 Division had more draft legal races and participation grew an additional 10% in the 14-15 Division and 25% in the 12-13 Division. Additionally, 2015 marked the inaugural draft legal Junior Cup Series and draft legal Elite/U23 Cup Series. This provided young athletes a place to develop their skill sets locally in a competitive environment.

In 2016, Ontario saw the Youth Cup begin to bear fruit by way of increasing numbers transitioning into the junior ranks. Participation in the Junior Cup Series grew by 58% year over year. At National Championships in Ottawa this summer, both male and female junior races shattered registration numbers in Canada, with the men’s race selling out for the first time in history.

Triathlon Ontario is pleased to see youth infrastructure continue to grow with the increasing number of youth clubs and adult clubs that are offering youth programming. It is because of this dramatic increase over the past three years that Triathlon Ontario believed it was possible to create a formal Youth Club Championship.

Youth Club Championships
The youth Crystal Cup, a leaner, sleeker version of its older sibling, was up for grabs for the first time in history at the Lakeside KOS.

The Peterborough Pirates Triathlon Club earned a convincing 500 point victory over its nearest rivals, Sudbury Triple Threat and the Fighting Koalas who finished second and third respectively.

Congratulations to all the clubs and athletes that participated to make the event such a success.

12-13 DivisionNadiya Linde-Elmhirst made it a perfect four for four with the maximum 100 points by securing her victory on the final day. Genevieve Sasseville‘s third place was good enough to lock in second place with 82 points over third place Mackenzie Garside.

Jacob Chant won Saturday’s race but it wasn’t enough to catch idle Ian Young who locked up the Series previously with 95 points. Chant finished a close second with 90 points and Roman Mironov, who finished second at Lakeside, edged out Alex Lambert by one point for third place in the Series at 75 points.

14-15 DivisionIsabella Mastroianni‘s weekend victory gave her the Series win with 74 points. Emma Young‘s previous results were good enough to hold on to second place at 64 points. Amber Patten and Tara Black finished second and third respectively on race day, which put them in a tie for third place in the Series with 60 points each.

Tristen Jones made history by becoming the fist ever back-to-back Youth Cup Champion. Jones secured a maximum 80 points from three of four events with his victory at Lakeside. Mathew Cottom finished second in the race, good enough for second place with 68 points. Sasha Menegotto and Jack Rath finished for a tie for third place overall with 61 points each.

About Triathlon Ontario
Triathlon Ontario is a non-profit organization that is the recognized Provincial Governing Body for Multisport in the province of Ontario. Our mission is to provide leadership and governance for the development of a safe and fair environment for Multisport in Ontario. Triathlon Ontario oversees the sanctioning of races and clubs and undertakes a number of duties and responsibilities on behalf of athletes at every level, coaches, clubs, officials and race directors to ensure the growth and development of the sport in a fun and safe way. Visit www.TriathlonOntario.com for the latest triathlon news, events, camps, and clinics.